Community Submitted News – AndroidSPINhttp://androidspin.com
Google Android News, Phones and Tablets, Software and hardware reviews and moreTue, 29 Nov 2016 19:29:58 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.5Interesting Find: Timeline Site for Androidhttp://androidspin.com/2013/06/10/interesting-find-timeline-site-for-android/
http://androidspin.com/2013/06/10/interesting-find-timeline-site-for-android/#commentsMon, 10 Jun 2013 17:51:04 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=106792 If I have to introduce Android to anyone reading this article, I might blow a brain vessel. We love it, and it is no secret that it is hands down one of the greatest operating systems that exist today. However, how much do we really know about Android? I’ll tell you what I know. […]

If I have to introduce Android to anyone reading this article, I might blow a brain vessel. We love it, and it is no secret that it is hands down one of the greatest operating systems that exist today. However, how much do we really know about Android?

I’ll tell you what I know. I know that the first Android phone I saw was the G1 andÂ Android was a new open source platform. When I got my first Android phone, the Mytouch 3G Slide, a search for cool little mods (like what I used to do with my old WinMo phones) led to me discovering this little thing that this small community called “rooting” a phone. I followed the tutorial on theunlockr.com and I did the deed. Then, I discovered “aftermarket firmware” for Android phones, also known as “Roms,” which allowed me to add cool little tweaks to my phone, or change the looks and functionality of my phone in its entirety.

The rest of this story includes tells about my ventures as an amateur rom developer, modifying apks, and eventually, my being added to the AndroidSPIN team. That’s cute and all, but that doesn’t tell Android’s history at all. Well thankfully, there is a site that does.

The site is called droidlife.com, not to be confused with the news source site droid-life.com, which is what I was actually trying to navigate to but unknowingly forgot to add the dash in the URL name. This site is dedicated to giving you the history of Android in a visually appealing timeline. Interesting tidbit of information, even though we didn’t even see a mainstream Android phone until the HTC G1 with Android 1.0 in 2008 (wow, howÂ primitive), Android, Inc. was founded back in 2003! Definitely would have never guessed that.

Anyway, if you want to learn the history of our beloved operating system, feel free to head to droidlife.com and read up, memorize, and use it as a great conversation starter at E3.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2013/06/10/interesting-find-timeline-site-for-android/feed/1Help An Android Developer Fight Harderhttp://androidspin.com/2013/02/24/help-an-android-developer-fight-harder/
http://androidspin.com/2013/02/24/help-an-android-developer-fight-harder/#commentsMon, 25 Feb 2013 00:14:17 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=93577I have a bit of a different story for everyone today and I hope that you understand why I felt compelled to do this. A great man and CyanogenMOD developer by the name of Ryan ScottÂ (aka @Chiefzreloaded)Â on Twitter has had a long-standing battle withÂ Necrotizing Fasciitis more commonly known as the “Flesh Eating” disease. As you […]

I have a bit of a different story for everyone today and I hope that you understand why I felt compelled to do this. A great man and CyanogenMOD developer by the name of Ryan ScottÂ (aka @Chiefzreloaded)Â on Twitter has had a long-standing battle withÂ Necrotizing Fasciitis more commonly known as the “Flesh Eating” disease. As you can imagine this type of disease requiresÂ constantÂ monitoringÂ and treatment which does not come cheap, therefore one man by the name of Deth Becomes YouÂ (aka @dethbecomesyou)Â has decided to lend a helping hand. As his way of raising awareness and funds for Ryan he hasÂ decidedÂ to hold a Google+ auction for his last remaining UndeadAndroid (image below) that he hand-made for The Big Android BBQ 2012.

The auction will be easy to be a part of as it will be held on G+ and in order to bid all you have to do is comment in the post, once the highest bidder has been set, a PayPalÂ addressÂ will be sent so the bidder can deposit the funds which will then go straight to Ryan to help his cause. I ask that if you can head to the link included below and place your bid and remember this isn’t for the Android Figure it is to help Ryan fight this battle and to help his family. So share this post on every social media you can and hopefully help Ryan in his time of need, thank you.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2013/02/24/help-an-android-developer-fight-harder/feed/1Learn from XDA Developers at the XDA Universityhttp://androidspin.com/2012/12/23/learn-from-xda-developers-at-the-xda-university/
http://androidspin.com/2012/12/23/learn-from-xda-developers-at-the-xda-university/#respondMon, 24 Dec 2012 00:10:28 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=87907For those curious android users who love to root their devices and install custom kernels; haven’t you wanted to know what goes in to building ROM? You find the theme given by various Launchers not that friendly, and often think you can have done better with the design or the logos.Â To promote budding developers […]

For those curious android users who love to root their devices and install custom kernels; haven’t you wanted to know what goes in to building ROM? You find the theme given by various Launchers not that friendly, and often think you can have done better with the design or the logos.Â To promote budding developers and users with the android ecosystem, XDA UniversityÂ launched their new website. Â This initiative’s aimed for newcomers to the world of root, custom ROMs, and other Android modifications.Â ,

XDA forums have loads of useful content to learn about more serious Android development. The introductory page on the website describes itself as “this book”, and XDA promises that a downloadable PDF of the site will be available soon. XDA administrators would be updating the resources and though the website looks like a wiki there is no way for public users to edit the content.

For new users, trying their hand at experimenting with their devices, the website provides a expert Android dictionary, making it easy for new users to understand the terms discussed on the various forums. This website also provides a compiled list of guidelines for flashing ROMs on your devices, creating new themes and also guides users on ROM tweaking.

Its a one-stop solution for Android users to get acquainted with Android OS, guidelines to tweaking ROMs and installing custom kernels on your devices.Â For developers, there is loads of Â guides and relevant content needed for Android development right from installing custom kernels to Git control systems.

Apart from just having text guides for users, this website has many video tutorials on app development, hardware hacking, and a beginners guide to Linux mobile development. Â The resource section has some other links to external websites for new developers to lay strong foundations.

Just got a new Android device and want to experiment and play around with it, then you shall find everything Â you need to do so at Â XDA University.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2012/12/23/learn-from-xda-developers-at-the-xda-university/feed/0Ceethroo Looking for Some Lovehttp://androidspin.com/2012/11/20/ceethroo-looking-for-some-love/
http://androidspin.com/2012/11/20/ceethroo-looking-for-some-love/#respondTue, 20 Nov 2012 07:30:38 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=85913B-boytm Asking for a Little Help Master Theme creator B-boy has reached out to our generous community for a little assistance on his new project, #Ceethroo. Â He isn’t looking for someone to completely take over the project, just someone who is able to help push it out and get it to the drooling public a […]

B-boytm Asking for a Little Help

Master Theme creator B-boy has reached out to our generous community for a little assistance on his new project, #Ceethroo. Â He isn’t looking for someone to completely take over the project, just someone who is able to help push it out and get it to the drooling public a little sooner and to bring so new ideas and fresher timelines. Â From a tweet, by the man himself, he was hoping to get a release out to the GP in a week or so from the date of the tweet (I think that was 3 days ago, IIRC), but with the help of another, or more, he would be able to get moar updates with moar features and possibly moar apps themed to complete the Ceethroo experience.

If you’re an able bodied master of the GIMP or PhotoShop wand and would like a chance to help join in on a project of great attitude and innovation, hit up @B-boytm at his SiteÂ orÂ TwitterÂ and see how deep the rabbit hole goes. Â I am no graphic artist and honestly I usually don’t feel real creative until I’m holding a piping bad writing or drawing on the side of a cake, but I know there are some highly creative people who love Android, Theming, and putting on the virtual gloves to make some cool shtuff happen with the virtual boxes we call computers.

If you are able to help…cool, if you are unable…that’s ok too. Â If you know someone who is able and might be interested, hook them up with the link, don’t be scared, it won’t hurt. Â So lets rally together, get some heads thinking and some keys clinking, lets get this man some help.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2012/11/20/ceethroo-looking-for-some-love/feed/0UPDATE MY MOTO!!!http://androidspin.com/2012/10/05/update-my-moto/
http://androidspin.com/2012/10/05/update-my-moto/#commentsFri, 05 Oct 2012 07:57:06 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=82664Motorola, We Have Spoken (Again), Update Our Devices!! Long have Motorola Users hoped and wished for unlocked bootloaders, timely updates, and freedom within the devices we pay for outright. Â Yes some get their devices subsidized and some buy them outright, in any event, the devices are purchased by us. Â Motorola loves to tell us that […]

Motorola, We Have Spoken (Again), Update Our Devices!!

Long have Motorola Users hoped and wished for unlocked bootloaders, timely updates, and freedom within the devices we pay for outright. Â Yes some get their devices subsidized and some buy them outright, in any event, the devices are purchased by us. Â Motorola loves to tell us that by unlocking our devices, rooting them, changing the background of the device voids the warranty, OK, the last one was a stretch, but you catch my drift. Â Many have ventured and many have failed, Motorola has turned a deaf ear to our pleas for…forever. Â There is a movement that has come about called “Update My Moto” <—(Link right there), on that page there are links for sharing of the webpage and if you go over to SupportMyMoto there are links of a lot of great developers who are supporting this objective and have a petition available to be signed by you, me, your neighbor, your neighbors dog and so on. Â The petition is being hosted at Change.org to send the message to Motorola Mobility/Google about the wants and wills of the people, their customers. Â Please head on over to the Petition and put your John or Jane Hancock on the list to help us all send a message to Moto and get our devices Unlocked, I put my Bionic in a drawer when I got my Galaxy Nexus because of the lack of support they are too troubled to offer to their customers. Â Well, if all goes as planned maybe this will change, maybe they will start to care what their customers are saying, what those who are purchasing their phones are saying. Â Only time will tell my friends, but please, show your support for Android, Moto Users, and Freedom to use our devices as we see fit, not as we are told to.

In case you didn’t catch the links, I’m going to hook you up right now:

]]>http://androidspin.com/2012/10/05/update-my-moto/feed/4FBI Subpoenas Google Over Pirated Apps – Google Notifies Devshttp://androidspin.com/2012/10/02/fbi-subpoenas-google-over-pirated-apps-google-notifies-devs/
http://androidspin.com/2012/10/02/fbi-subpoenas-google-over-pirated-apps-google-notifies-devs/#commentsTue, 02 Oct 2012 05:54:26 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=82392Chinese software company Alibaba created the Aliyum OS which, despite claims to the contrary, is a forked Android OS, along the same lines as the Kindle Fire or Nook. Alibaba claims that its Aliyum OS is Linux based, but oddly there’s several pirated Android apps on the Aliyum app store including many Google apps. Acer […]

Chinese software company Alibaba created the Aliyum OS which, despite claims to the contrary, is a forked Android OS, along the same lines as the Kindle Fire or Nook. Alibaba claims that its Aliyum OS is Linux based, but oddly there’s several pirated Android apps on the Aliyum app store including many Google apps. Acer went so far as to attempt the release of a phone running Aliyum, but Google stopped them in their tracks by threatening to kick them out of the Open Handset Alliance. Per the Open Source Project’s page:

Android was originated by a group of companies known as the Open Handset Alliance, led by Google. Today, many companies — both original members of the OHA and others — have invested heavily in Android, typically in the form of allocating significant engineering resources to improve Android and bring Android devices to Market.

We created Android in response to our own experiences launching mobile apps. We wanted to make sure that there would always be an open platform available for carriers, OEMs, and developers to use to make their innovative ideas a reality. We wanted to make sure that there was no central point of failure, where one industry player could restrict or control the innovations of any other. The solution we chose was an open and open-source platform.

The goal of the Android Open Source Project is to create a successful real-world product that improves the mobile experience for end users.

Regarding Aliyum and Acer’s with the Open Handset Alliance, Google stated:

Compatibility is at the heart of the Android ecosystem and ensures a consistent experience for developers, manufacturers and consumers.

Non-compatible versions of Android, like Aliyun, weaken the ecosystem. All members of the Open Handset Alliance have committed to building one Android platform and to not ship non-compatible Android devices.

This does not however, keep OHA members from participating in competing ecosystems.

Well, several well-known devs including Koushik Dutta (Koush) received an email from Google letting devs like himself know that they have received subpoenas from the FBI regarding pirated apps. Check it out:

Phandroid has reported that these emails are in fact real. I can only image Koush’s first thought skimming that email seeing the words “Google”, “FBI”, and “subpoena” (read the first comment in his G+, you’ll see what I’m talking about). Though it has not been confirmed that these are in regard to the Aliyum App Store shenanigans, we have our suspicions. Let us know what you think.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2012/10/02/fbi-subpoenas-google-over-pirated-apps-google-notifies-devs/feed/1Follow Team D.I.R.T on Twitter to Potentially Win Some Cash!http://androidspin.com/2012/09/28/follow-team-d-i-r-t-on-twitter-to-potentially-win-some-cash/
http://androidspin.com/2012/09/28/follow-team-d-i-r-t-on-twitter-to-potentially-win-some-cash/#commentsFri, 28 Sep 2012 23:11:39 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=82255 Team D.I.R.T develops ROMs from scratch and also does ROM ports for the HTC EVO 4G, EVO 3D, and EVO LTE. They do great graphics as well and some other crazy things. Their most recent development was obtaining root on a Nabi 2 (kids) tablet and were able to push Gapps to it. Check […]

Team D.I.R.T develops ROMs from scratch and also does ROM ports for the HTC EVO 4G, EVO 3D, and EVO LTE. They do great graphics as well and some other crazy things. Their most recent development was obtaining root on a Nabi 2 (kids) tablet and were able to push Gapps to it. Check it out, itâ€™s a toy.

Anyway, do you support Android development? If you do, chances are youâ€™ve given a team or individual dev some donation money at one time or another. Well, what if a dev team gave some money to you?Â Whatâ€™s that you say?

The aforementioned Team D.I.R.T is looking for some more followers on Twitter. They want to give away $60 via PayPal to a random Twitter follower once they reach 300 followers. Per their contest rules from their Twitter feedÂ @TheREALteamDIRTÂ Â post:

Today Team D.I.R.T is giving it away!! YES we’re giving some cash away to one of our followers!! WILL it be you?? We’ll see……..here’s how to enter and get a chance to win!!!

In order to enter this contest you must follow @TheREALteamDIRTÂ and tweet to us what is the one app that you can’t live without and use the hash tag TeamDIRT i.e I can’t live without ROM Toolbox #TeamDIRT

Once we get 300 followers we will use http://twitrand.com/generate to generate the winner and pay out the prize via PayPal to our lucky follower!!

YOU MUST HAVE A VALID PAY PAL ACCOUNT PRIOR TO ENTERING THIS CONTEST!!

]]>http://androidspin.com/2012/09/28/follow-team-d-i-r-t-on-twitter-to-potentially-win-some-cash/feed/1[App Review] BusyMom Toddler Editionhttp://androidspin.com/2011/09/15/app-review-busymom-toddler-edition/
http://androidspin.com/2011/09/15/app-review-busymom-toddler-edition/#respondThu, 15 Sep 2011 18:55:21 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=59077BusyMom Toddler Edition is an App that is just for Moms with Toddlers (ages 1-3). It is available on both the Android Market and the Amazon App Store. BusyMom Toddler Edition claims to be four apps in one. It is divided into four sections: Community, Maps, Stories, and Charts. I’ll briefly cover my experience with […]

BusyMom Toddler Edition is an App that is just for Moms with Toddlers (ages 1-3). It is available on both the Android Market and the Amazon App Store. BusyMom Toddler Edition claims to be four apps in one. It is divided into four sections: Community, Maps, Stories, and Charts. I’ll briefly cover my experience with each section:

Â Â

Community: BusyMom Toddler Edition includes a community forum that allows Moms to talk to other Moms and get help or share advice. It’s built right into the App and it’s easy to use. I could definitely see myself jumping on quickly to get an answer to a question. The interface is nice and it’s easy to make a post from my phone.

Maps: Maps for Moms is another section that is included in the App and it’s a neat idea that works well. Basically Maps for Moms allows you to find places near your GPS Location. For example: I went to a city a few hours from where I live and I used the App to help me find a local Coffee Shop. Just open the App, Tap the “Coffee” button and it automatically searches and shows Coffee Shops near my current location. I found this to be extremely helpful. You can also find Restaurants, Malls, Playgrounds, Gas Stations, and WiFi Hotspots.

Stories: This is probably the neatest part of BusyMom Toddler Edition (at least it was for me). They include a section that has a bunch of streaming audio stories that are intended to keep your Toddler occupied. I used this in the car on my way to my Mom’s house the other day. You can hook up your phone to the iPod jack in your car and listen to stores through your car’s speakers. It also works great over the phone’s speaker. I used it last night as a bed-time story for my toddler. The stories are great classics that kept my toddlers attention.

Charts: The App also includes a section with Toddler development charts. You can easily pop over and check out a chart to see how your toddler is progressing. Not the flashiest part of the App, but it got the job done.

Overall I would give this App Five Stars and recommend it to any mom with a toddler age child. The price is amazing considering everything that you get with it. Here’s a link to find it in the Market:

]]>http://androidspin.com/2011/09/15/app-review-busymom-toddler-edition/feed/0[Community Outreach] Quietly Locked – HTC Petition for Unlocked Bootloadershttp://androidspin.com/2011/05/18/community-outreach-quietly-locked-htc-petition-for-unlocked-bootloaders/
http://androidspin.com/2011/05/18/community-outreach-quietly-locked-htc-petition-for-unlocked-bootloaders/#commentsWed, 18 May 2011 20:10:20 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=53419This is not the first time we’ve seen a petition of this type floating around. Last month we had a Motorola petition pass through referencing the same topic. While that topic may still be a heated debate, it seems another target has entered the cross-hairs. It seems that more than a few HTC users may […]

This is not the first time we’ve seen a petition of this type floating around. Last month we had a Motorola petition pass through referencing the same topic. While that topic may still be a heated debate, it seems another target has entered the cross-hairs. It seems that more than a few HTC users may be floating this same boat. Rather than ramble on, I’ll let them tell it.

What is the point of this?

The idea of this is to convince HTC to unlock the bootloaders and disable the NAND protection on their phones

Why should I support this?

Unlocking the bootloader and disabling the NAND protection will allow users to keep their phones up to date using custom roms such as CM7. Take the HTC Wildfire for example. In December 2010, HTC released a 2.2 update for the Wildfire. However, hidden in this update was a new bootloader which could not (and still can not as of the 9th may 2011) be modified. It is unlikely that HTC will release another update for this phone, meaning that users are going to be stuck on this rom. The reason? So HTC can sell new phones. However what this is doing is putting users off buying HTCâ€™s devices since rival companies have announced that the users can easily unlock the bootloaders on their devices.

To support this campaign please sign the Grobal using the forum at the bottom. You can also discuss it at XDA-Developers using this link http://goo.gl/8Rh6O and you can follow us on Facebook at http://goo.gl/e1CqN

Currently the petition has 242 signatures, while this is hardly enough to sway any corporate decisions it does go to show that this affects a variety of users. If you want to support the cause you can add your own signature along with a comment regarding your reasoning by visiting the Groubal page.

P.S. We would like to state that as a site we’re neutral, for the most part, but users should be able to voice their opinions. However you always have an outlet to voice your opinions (within reason) with our “Submit Article” link in the menu bar above. This allows you to share your thoughts with the Android community in your own words.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2011/05/18/community-outreach-quietly-locked-htc-petition-for-unlocked-bootloaders/feed/10Help the Android Communityhttp://androidspin.com/2011/05/17/help-the-android-community/
http://androidspin.com/2011/05/17/help-the-android-community/#commentsTue, 17 May 2011 19:51:58 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=53373 I love Android. I love the Community. Since my G1 days I have slowly evolved from total noob, to someone who helps answer questions daily on XDA, writing instructional guides, and now testing the waters in app development and theming. The reason I have progressed is the kindness of the community. Every themer/developer I […]

Since my G1 days I have slowly evolved from total noob, to someone who helps answer questions daily on XDA, writing instructional guides, and now testing the waters in app development and theming. The reason I have progressed is the kindness of the community. Every themer/developer I have ever contacted has been so incredibly gracious with their time and sharing their talent. I truly respect these people â€“ and you should too.

I say this so bluntly only because itâ€™s that passion that fuels the article.

There are also many bad elements to the Android Community. The most notable in my opinion are the 3rd party paid app sites AND sites like www.akaskriller.com. I want to focus on the latter, but feel the need to point out those 3rd party app sites give you â€œfreeâ€ paid apps, but they also give you App Permissions not requested by the original app â€“ they are malicious.

Please do not be a self-inflicted victim over $0.99. You are on this site, you are smarter than that.

Back to my real intent here. For those not familiar, akaskriller is a site that has a nice front â€“ and that is what it is, a front. They appear to be very genuine and caring, they act like they are helping developers, and they act like they want to help the Android noob.

Nothing could be further from the truth. They want money â€“ money for others work.

Sites that offer others work (ROMs & Themes) behind a $5 donate wall (yes, you pay to get access) are wrong people. Not just wrong for those new to Android â€“ those who genuinely need help and do not know better. But more importantly, it is wrong for the developers who work so hard to improve our phones, at no cost to us.

I am no expert on Apache/Licensing but I would have to assume paying/donating $5 for free software is wrong on a larger scale than I know how to address.

Those familiar with the Samsung Vibrant may recall a movement I suggested. It was called â€œ#NeverAgain Samsung.â€ I proposed a social media blitz where we told Samsung on Twitter, blogs, Facebook and YouTube that we would not continue to buy their products if they would treat the Android Community the way they did â€“ withholding updates and source.

Shortly after the movement started (and it grew FAST), I received calls from Samsung and they were following me on twitter. Froyo and source was given to us via Kies/their site. Perhaps due to our combined community efforts.

I am suggesting we have another outcry – an outcry that our community will not tolerate this. Let the community know this is wrong. I will not be formal and say â€œdo this,â€ but do something.

Tweet about it, post on Facebookâ€¦ heck, just tell a developer you appreciate them.

Since mentioning the idea of one developer has told me when he requested his ROM be removed from the site, he was told that they would simply change the build.prop so it was a â€œnew ROM.â€ Taking away the work this developer did and making it their own.

This is wrong. Do something.

You can find me on Twitter @CallipH. If you are noob and you want help, ask me and I will tell you if I can help, for free.